* THE fall of the British Empire owed nothing to post-war guilt, but everything to the loss of faith.
That was the opinion of Boston vicar the Rev William Gowland, who gave a
70-minute sermon at the town's Centenary circuit rally.
He claimed peop
le were putting 'Judy Garland before God and Fred Astaire before Christ'.
"We are seeing the British Empire break up before our eyes," he said.
"It is the same reason the Roman Empire broke up… men left God."
* WHEN Bob Vere was walking back to his Brothertoft home he noticed something was not quite right.
On closer inspection he noticed his chimney stack was missing – after being hit by lightning.
About £100-worth of damage was caused to the property.
* SPRINTER John W. Murray was keeping success in the family.
The Spain Court resident won the Lincolnshire 100-yard dash before completing the double, winning the
220-yard event – taking the title from the previous champ, his brother Eric.
* CRACKS were appearing in the spire at Swineshead Church.
It was being caused by the corrosion of an iron rod that was dowelled into the masonry to support the weather vane.
Repairs were to cost £400.
Offences on up, but town's criminals were decent types
June 21, 1968… 40 years ago this week
Kathy Stones, 18, was named as Miss Fogarty in the business's annual contest. She is pictured with runners-up Hazel Smith and Gillian Lyall. There were 18 entries in total.
* LOCAL criminals were the ordinary decent types! In just three months crime was up 17.2 per cent.
Lincolnshire Police chief constable John Barnett gave his quarterly report which stated all crimes were up apart from indecency.
Larceny was up by 364, the greatest rise of all offences in the period.
* AN APPRENTICE joiner at Boston College broke his wrist just days before his end-of-year written exam.
However, examining board EMEU told him he was not allowed to verbalise his answers and had to write them himself.
Principal Alan Moon said he still had to pass the youngster into the second year if he felt his work was up to scratch, whatever his exam result.
* AN ERRAND boy was sacked from his job at a Boston fishmonger's after being caught pocketing takings.
The 18-year-old was caught out in a sting where he took 30 shillings in marked cash.
Things got worse as, days later, he was spotted leaving the town's Beacon Club after snatching a gallon of cola syrup.
* BOSTON was putting Laval on the map.
To mark the 10th anniversary of the two towns' twinning, plans were unveiled to erect new signs in the area celebrating the partnership, as well as a milestone giving the distance to the French town.
Bingo! The numbers came up for Susan
June 23, 1988… 20 years ago this week
Bikewise youngsters from Wrangle received their cycling proficiency certificates from village bobby Pc Eric Rayment.
* SUSAN Baker was visiting family in Kirton when she decided to try out bingo for the first time… and won £54,870.
The Londoner – who turned 29 the following day – was so happy about her windfall that she treated herself to a taxi back from the Gliderdrome.
* BOSSES at Coloroll agreed to suspend work on their Mount Bridge feather-processing plant in the afternoon to allow college students to carry out exams in silence.
Motor racing star Martin Brundle made a pit stop in Boston. He was taking his Jaguar XJR-OLM to different Norwich and Peterborough branches across the country. Martin is pictured meeting BGS pupils Andrew Molsom and Mark Capps.
The £1.5 million feather washer-dryer machine – the only one in operation in the world at the time – gave out smells and loud noises due to vibrations.
* BOSTONIANS were left wondering how they were going to shift a capsized 70-foot fishing vessel which was stuck in the mud.
The derelict vessel capsized after a 250-ton ex-Admiralty torpedo recovery ship called Endsleigh broke from its moorings and smashed into it near Haven Bridge.
A young fan peers into his dream machine.
* BENINGTON'S Steve Harding was heading for a slot on BBC TV show It's Up To You after winning a dancing contest at Skegness nightclub TC's.
Samantha saved by early start
June 18, 1998… 10 years ago this week
Hats the way to do it! Boston West pupils were proudly wearing their legionnaires-style hats, issued by the PTA to protect them from the sun.
* NINETEEN-year-old Samantha Ames cheated death after a runaway rubbish truck smashed into her bedroom at 5.30am.
The Donington teenager would normally have been in bed at this time, but she got up early to see off her dad as he was leaving to work away for the week.
Had she stayed in bed the ending would not have been so happy.
* SWINESHEAD pet lovers were living in fear for their animals after a new predator made its nest in the village.
A European eagle owl – three feet high and with a five-foot wingspan – moved in.
The bird was feasting on wild pigeons and the species has been known to kill animals up to the size of a hare.
Samantha Ames, 19, and her parents stand outside their home, which was partly demolished by a runaway rubbish truck.
* WORLD Cup fever hit Boston… and hit the Sack Store hard.
The Boston store displayed the flags of nations they do business with – including Brazil, Italy, France and Spain – until they were stolen.
Owners were blaming football euphoria for the thefts.
* MOTORISTS were heading for trouble at Freiston Bridge.
The same sign offering priority along the narrow crossing was put on each side of the bridge… causing several red-faced drivers to reverse.
